Owner/Founder& AdministratorComplete System For Sale ~ Must sell everything to afford the divorce lawyers.

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Posting etiquette

Here are some basic etiquette rules for posting on AP.ca:

Please follow the forum rules - ie. enter your signature, etc. And be sure that you have READ AND AGREE to the site's Terms Of Use (TOU). Failure to follow the clearly posted rules of our community will result in an 'Infraction' being issued by the Staff (Mods/Admins). Each infraction carries 'points' - and if enough points are accumulated (10) - your posting privileges can be suspended (compare this to a drivers license). Please follow the rules - and respect the 'staff'.

ALL posts are to be in EnglishPlease realize and understand that AP.ca is an English site - and all posts must be in English. Our Moderation team do not read other languages - and posts made in anything other then English will be deleted.

Respect others & their opinions Sometimes people can write something that you may find offensive. Before launching into a public condemnation though, please consider that the person may not have intended to cause offence. It is very easy to misinterpret a post on forums. This is why we have smilies - as something as simple as a smilie face can help to show the intended 'tone' of the statement. Please use them - as they do help to prevent misinterpretations. There is absolutely no need to resort to insults. Respect others' views even if you disagree with them. POSTING IN ALL CAPS or in BOLD or in LARGE PRINT is considered rude. If you need to get a point across - by all means, use bold, etc. - however, any threads ALL IN BOLD or all in Large font, etc. - WILL BE DELETED!If you do find an insulting post/thread - please use the report.jpg button to bring it to our attention.

Lurk (anonymously observe) before you leap.
When you jump into a forum, do not post any comments right away. Try to read and catch up with what is going on and observe what people are saying. After you feel comfortable and think you are ready to add useful information/comments to the conversation, please do so. If you are looking for certain information you may find it has already been posted within the relevant forum so have a look through the recent topic titles. Using the forums' search features -located within the top menu bar will help you a great deal. If you don't find any information - definitely do post your question.

Post into the correct forum. There are a number of different forums on this site - the full list is can be found by clicking on the 'forum' link on any page. Please use the appropriate forum when starting a new topic. There is also the 'Reefers Pub' forum which is used as a catch-all forum. We suggest you read the individual forums write-ups, which will also help you understand the use of the various forums. If you have a question as to where to post - you can post into the 'Just Getting Started' or 'Reef Discussion' forum - we will move it if needed.

Posting about shopping / sales / etc.Please do NOT post about shopping / sales / etc. into the Reef Discussion or other general forums. When posting about shopping - if it's regarding a Site Sponsor - please post to THEIR specific forum. If it's about a non-Sponsor - post it to the 'Where Do You Shop?' forum. If it's a 'review' about a shopping experience - post it into the 'AP Reviews' section.
AquariumPros.ca is growing very rapidly - and as such, we are trying to keep it as organized as possible. The intention of any 'forums' is to have an archive of information, that people can search easily to find what they are looking for. If people are looking for past experiences at a specific store - why should they have to search through 1,000's of posts that just mention that store - when there is a specific 'Reviews' section that ONLY has reviews.

Spell CheckIt is there for your benefit - please use it. It's frustrating to TRY to read a post that has typo's everywhere. While the Spell Check feature won't make you a sought-after author - it will help you get your point made or question asked clearly.+ it also helps to make you look like you know what you're talking about. :o)

If you're not sure of a fact, state so in the postThere's nothing wrong with taking a guess - just please state so in your post.

Give a follow up report for the ones that took the time to help youPeople try to help out - and when they do, it's nice to at least get a thanks. Also - when others search out the thread - it's at least nice for them to be able to see what the outcome was.

Post pictures and or drawings whenever possibleProviding advice is much, much easier when we have something visual to go from. If you're using images from another website - please be sure to give the proper credit - and avoid Hot-Linking to other sites. We get emails from other webmasters all the time to remove an image that is directly linked to their site ~ in turn, using their bandwidth. Save the image to your computer, and then use one of the picture posting methods as outlined in the FAQ's

Keep advice constructive(See below)

Disputes Please do not use the forums for personal disputes, heated debates, flame wars etc. You are expected to treat each other with respect in the forums and take any personal disputes to a private mode of discussion off the forums. If you should find that your discussion is becoming too heated or someone is becoming far too passionate about their argument, please take the discussion to private message or email ~ and notify a Moderator or Administrator via the use of the AP Staff link at the top right of every page or report the post via thereport.jpg button located at the bottom left of the offending post.

Move to PM if the subject drifts too far off topic Do try and keep to the topic of the thread. If you want to raise a new issue then consider whether a new topic is more appropriate.

If you have a unique question that others can learn from, make it a thread rather than a PMThe benefit of a forum, is to have the archive of information. PM's are not public, and aren't of help to other members. Posting the question into the forums will still help you (and will get more input from multiple members) - and will serve to help other members in the future too.

Understand the limitations of the forum, that you may not get the answer you want to hear, or any answer during off timesUnfortunately - you may get advice that isn't what you want to hear. It's not provided to make you upset - just the facts. Also note that AP.ca is a World-Wide site...so time zones change. Give it a little while - you will get replies.

Try to follow the advice if you feel it has meritLook to see what the member's "Respected Advisor Rating" is. The more stars they have, the more trust you can have for their advice. This isn't to say that a member without stars isn't a trustworthy source; it just points out which members are contributing the most (substanciated information) to the forum members.

Provide links to back up your informationThe more you can back-up your 'advice' or 'opinions' - the more people will consider them.

Pass on interesting articles or links as you find themThere are many, many information sources and articles on the web - so as you find good ones - please do post them for the other members of the community. We have set-up the AP Web Links section to house all the links and articles you find.

Power-PostingPower-posting is when board members post 'empty' messages to the board, in order to simply increase their number of posts more quickly. Examples of power-posting are replying to a message with only 'LOL' or 'I agree', but failing to contribute anything further to the discussion. If you reply to a message, make sure you have something to say. Power posting clutters up the forums, clutters up the 'new posts' function, and uses extra bandwidth and server space. While we don't mind people using bandwidth to chat usefully on the board, we do mind people using it just because they want a more impressive 'post count'. If you're not sure if you're power-posting, take a moment and think it over before you post. If all your post contains is a 'LOL' or an emoticon, it's a power-post. If it adds something to the discussion, it isn't. This doesn't apply to forums like the 'Reefers Pub", where jokes or the like may be posted. Posts into the 'Reefers Pub' don't add to your post count anyway.

No TrollingWhat is a troll? It's a person who posts something which is bound to stir people up and then sits back and watches as dozens of people jump in and start arguing. Sometimes trolls get their friends to join in or post under different names. Generally they will do anything it takes to get attention. If you see a message like this, please refrain from replying to it ~ and notify a Moderator or Administrator via the use of the AP Staff link at the top right of every page or report the post via the report.jpg button located at the bottom left of the offending post. Anyone trolling will be moved into a Restricted Usergroup - and a Moderator or Administrator will have to approve ALL posts before they will display within the forums. Trolls will have Negative credibility stars & will be labled as such in their user title.

SPAMMERSSpam is a blight upon the face of the net. Nobody likes it. However, it is hard to avoid. Despite our best efforts, you will very occasionally see spam on the forums. Complaining about spam in public increases noise, but not signal. It may make you feel better, but it doesn't help. Notify a Moderator or Administrator via the use of the AP Staff link at the top right of every page or report the post via the report.jpg button located at the bottom left of the offending post, who will remove the spam. DO NOT ever place your email address into your signature or posts - as automated crawlers that 'crawl' the internet will pick them up - and either SPAM you - or send out email spoofing your email address as the sender. There are Contact Me links to you via your Profile - this will still allow you to receive all emails (as long as the email address in your profile is correct) - but will NOT allow the crawlers to pick-up your address.

Owner/Founder& AdministratorComplete System For Sale ~ Must sell everything to afford the divorce lawyers.

Achievements:

Join Date

Oct 2001

Location

Sarasota, Florida

Posts

14,728

Points

112,625

Level

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Threadstarter

Re: Posting etiquette

Another important factor to note ~

There have been many questions lately about:

"Can I put a 120Gal tank in the left corner of my living room - Will the floor hold it??"

There is NO POSSIBLE WAY for anyone to tell you without physically seeing your home/floor. There are too many variables and IF's.

This is a question ONLY a Structural Engineer will be able to properly/legally answer - and only after visiting your location.

Please think about the questions you're asking - and who's answering them. Also - please think about the ramifications of the answers that you may be giving - with the best of intentions.

If you're not a licensed professional, who can stand behind your 'advice' - please refrain from answering these types of questions. If you are a licensed professional - please state that in your replies/PM's.